It is one of these moments that I find about a new record and a new band and I am really anxious whether or not we have reviewed it here in Metal Temple especially if it is top quality stuff. And yet here we are with another exceptional release from the frozen land of Sweden. The sextet YEAR OF THE GOAT hails from Nörkopping (like many towns having the something-kopping name) between the central and southern part of Sweden. "Angel's Necropolis" is the first full length album of the band, a record full of old school Heavy Metal. When isolating their music, YEAR OF THE GOAT follows the tradition of Metal bands of 70s like BLUE OYSTER CULT, WISHBONE ASH but the lyrics and in general the whole concept of the band is focused on the fallen archangel Lucifer and his worship like DEMON and PENTAGRAM.

"Angel's Necropolis" has eight tracks and approximately fifty minutes duration. Usually the songs go for  about four to six minutes with exception of "Angel's Necropolis", "Voice of a Dragon" and "Thin Lines of Broken Hopes" which rocket up to ten minutes long. All the songs have similar in tempo that a structure that is faithful to the old school patterns. There are lots of great songs like the opener "For The King", the epic tracks "Angel's Necropolis" and"Voice of a Dragon" or the mellow "This Will be Mine". The songs were built on riffs mainly of arpeggios or chords in higher octaves (and of course power chords here and there) but mostly with lots of leads and dual harmony guitar parts. The atmosphere is mainly characterized by bitterness and despair which is stemming from the phased effects in the guitars and the style of the singer.

Checking all my recent reviews and the current trends in the Metal community it is a fact that we are going through a 70s revival. Be it a shift in the bands preferred by the companies or nostalgia in the legacy of the legendary bands of that time truth is that we are going to hear lots of those kinds of records. Moreover there are lots of bands that try to revive the occult image of the devil's worship like LORD ACID & THE DEADBEATS, GHOST and many more. As I have said in other reviews I am not a fan of the worship of the Lord or Lucifer but at least if somebody tries to do it at least they should do it well (LORDIAN GUARD and VITAL REMAINS for example). In the case of YEAR OF THE GOAT it might be unfitting for listeners to combine this kind of music with satanic themes (if they ever notice lyrics) but if we look closely to the origin of those bands this is how it was done back then before the coming of the extreme genres of metal.

Leaving apart the imagery thingy "Angel's Necropolis" is a record full of excellent quality old school heavy metal. The trio of guitarists utilizes medium distorted guitars and effects are heavily utilized throughout the whole record. The bass is not very high leveled but you can find its constant pounding in the background forging the backbone of the songs. The drums' playing is technical and solid and fits perfect in the structure of the songs. Of course a classic retro sound would mean nothing without a mellotron (you know the thing that sounds like a flute - but it's not) and this record is no exception, as it is a vital part in enhancing the atmosphere of the record. Finally the vocals have a bitter yet so true rock and roll attitude and is one of the strongest points of the record. The production of the record is of directed to recreate a very retro sound (well do not expect 8 channel track or something similar though) and mind that the recordings were made without any use of click tracks.

"Angel's Necropolis" is a record that initially left me confused. The reason is that from one there is a very melodic record with amazing riffs, great vocals and especially memorable choruses (check the homonymous track) and from the other hand these so dark lyrics. I couldn't find them fitting together because of this contradiction. I am insisting on this part because if you check the bio of the band they state that they are performers of the dark art but then again all this great music doesn't sound that dark and evil to me. But I will stop this crap here and redirect you a some sentences up and will stick there. This record is a statement that good music can still be written which has its reference to the 70s era. YEAR OF THE GOAT have claimed that malevolent structure, "Angel's Necropolis", to perform their darkest arts and spread the worship of the dark Lord.